Unlike other 21 year olds, instead of merely calling himself an artist, Stephen Michael Haas is showing his India ink and watercolor paper series, “Universal Folklore,” all over Harrisburg.
Haas started to show his work last August after a short, but productive, time at the Maryland Institute College of Art. After leaving school, Haas said, “For about a year, I found myself unable to make artwork because I couldn’t make anything I felt had any sort of value to it. Once I realized that my work wasn’t at all about fitting into any preconceived notion of how an ‘artist’ should create, this burden keeping me from doing anything was lifted.”
Now Haas has produced a body of work that has earned him the respect of Harrisburg’s artistic community.
He debuted Universal Folklore at Harrisburg’s Studio A Gallery in August after showing his sketchbook to owner Anela Bence-Selkowitz. “I’m always nervous about looking at artwork in front of the artist, but I was floored by the sharpie prints he showed me,” said Bence-Selkowitz. “I immediately offered him a solo show.”
Not expecting such a positive reception, Haas created the majority of the work shown in under a month, before the exhibit opened for August’s 3rd in The Burg.
Lisa Bennett met Haas through Art Kaleidoscope, a monthly community art event she organizes at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore where artists give presentations of their work.
“I thought Stephen had great ideas about making artwork,” said Bennett, who also curates the Midtown Scholar’s Yellow Wall Gallery, where “Universal Folklore” was on exhibit from January to February 2013. “The work is definitely a representation of his own exploration. He’s so passionate about his work, and he has really wholesome, solid ideas about art. He’s focused on his ideas and the art that he’s going to make right now, in this moment. It’s refreshing and inspiring.”
Haas’ work has a board game quality about it that illustrates the process of adult discovery and is representative of the journey “to find the meeting place where the notion of ‘artist’ and the individual self come together,” said Bennett.
On his art, Haas said, “My aim is to immerse audiences in a world…as beautiful and vivid as childhood.”
Liz Laribee, director of the Olde Uptown-based arts initiative The MakeSpace, recognizes this quality in Haas’ work. “His work is genuine and unique and evokes a nostalgia that seems almost universal,” she said. “Seeing him at work in the community is energizing.”
Haas is a purveyor of energy and intimacy not only in his art, but also with his popular local band Flower Garden. Haas does not distinguish between projects; the goals of both Flower Garden and his visual body of work are the same—one of immersion.
Laribee met Haas when Flower Garden played for her art opening at Little Amps Coffee Roasters in the summer of 2012. Laribee said, “Before that, I knew him as a seemingly ubiquitous fixture at cultural events, wearing a huge smile and swim trunks. I invited him to paint a mural in the kitchen of The MakeSpace, which is one of my favorite features of the whole facility. The whole time he was painting…we kept a shouting conversation going about the nature of Harrisburg and what we hope to see develop here.”
Haas travels back and forth from Baltimore and Harrisburg working on an official Flower Garden recording that he aims to press on vinyl and take national later this year. April is Haas’ self-imposed deadline on album tracking. After the album is mastered, spring will see a return to live performances by Flower Garden and a new stage of Haas’ career for Harrisburg to enjoy.
